BASEBALL: Stoughton tops Canton to clinch playoff berth

Mike Gallagher pitched a six-hit complete game, and Jacob Gibb and Jovani Pires each drove in two runs for the Black Knights in Monday's 5-1 home win.

Jay N. MillerFor The Patriot Ledger

STOUGHTON – The Stoughton High baseball team earned its place in the postseason with Monday’s 5-1 victory over a Canton team that now must win its final two games to join the party.

The Black Knights (10-9) rode a workmanlike performance from senior righthander Mike Gallagher, who scattered six hits, fanned eight and walked just two in a complete game.

While the afternoon’s thunderstorms missed Stoughton’s field, the gusty winds were so intense that several mid-inning delays occurred, and control was difficult for both pitchers.

Stoughton scored two runs in each of the first two innings, but Canton senior lefthander Wyatt Golledge held the Knights mostly in check the rest of the way. Golledge allowed nine hits, walked three and hit a batter in his own complete game for the Bulldogs (8-10).

For the senior-heavy Stoughton squad, returning to the postseason gives them a chance to avenge last season’s loss in the Division 2 South Sectional final. And with 10 of the Black Knights set to graduate this month, it also marks a final run for this talented bunch, which posted a 13-7 regular-season record last year.

“We got good pitching today, and it was really good to see Gallagher get a few runs,” said Stoughton coach Mike Armour. “He’s been a little unlucky that way this year. But today he came out and got those three strikeouts in the first inning and really set the tone.”

“The season has been a bit of a grind,” Armour added. “It is good to get the tournament qualifying out of the way. We have 10 seniors who were all here last year for that title run, and they all want to go back this year and finish the job. Our regular season record won’t be quite as good this year, so we won’t get a home game, but in the tournament, anyone can win on any given day, so that isn’t as much of a factor. And you always want to be playing your best ball at tournament time, so I think we’re in good shape.”

Sophomore catcher Jacob Gibb’s two-run single in the first put Stoughton ahead, and Jovani Pires and Gallagher added RBI singles in the second for a 4-0 lead.

Canton’s Kevin O’Brien tripled in a run in the fifth, but Pires answered for Stoughton with an RBI single in the sixth.

“Gallagher certainly gave them a good start,” said Canton coach J.P. Scott. “But Wyatt Golledge has been doing a good job for us, as a spot starter. We knew Stoughton would be a tough game, as they had beaten us 12-0 the first time this year. We have to win our next two games, and I wanted to save (sophomore righthander) Kevin Powers to start Tuesday.

“Stoughton is very good, because they can hit, they have pitching, and they play good defense. The only way you can beat them is if their defense is booting it around, but that doesn’t happen too often.”

With six seniors and a dozen underclassmen returning next year, Canton is looking ahead, but still eager for a tourney slot this spring.

“We have improved a lot over the course of this season,” Scott noted. “But we are definitely building for the future, too, and our younger kids are really coming on.”